


Run Like You Do

by caimani



Series: You Got Moves, I Got Shoes [1]
Category: Jonas Brothers, Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Awsten Knight and Kyle Fletchers are Twins, Fencing, High School, Injury Recovery, M/M, Scars, Supernatural Elements, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26807962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caimani/pseuds/caimani
Summary: After a hunt goes badly wrong, Kevin Jonas takes his younger brothers to a small town in Texas so they can recover and finish high school. Unfortunately, he picked a town that's full of werewolves. And when Joe tries to join the fencing club, he comes face to face with the strongest young werewolf in town-- one that knows he's a hunter.
Relationships: Joe Jonas/Awsten Knight, Nick Jonas/Kyle Knight
Series: You Got Moves, I Got Shoes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955188
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Joe hasn’t forgotten about the Fencing Club Incident. It’s kind of impossible to forget, seeing as how that’s the entire source of all of his stress at the moment. Well, that and the incessant waves of pain and deadness in his right arm. But anyway, it’s a major source of concern. He’s been back to school since the incident of course. He kept quiet, tried to keep an eye on Nick, and carefully weaseled his way out of any conversation longer than a “hey you’re the new kid right” “yeah”.

The new house has been his safe place. It’s a haven. It’s smells weird, the air conditioning still isn’t working, and there has been almost no effort to unpack all the boxes, but Joe loves it because there’s no fucking wolves lurking around the corner. They might be lurking around outside (they’re definitely lurking, if Awsten’s threat was to be believed), but the house itself is just them.

So he nearly jumps out of his skin when, as Nick is loading the washing machine up, he pulls out the folded up flyer for the fencing club.

“You still need this?” Nick says. 

Joe jumps up and grabs at it— with the wrong hand, so he ends up dropping it with his pathetically weak grip. “No, I don’t,” he says. “Here, lemme throw that away.”

Nick picks up the flyer and hands it back. “You sure? I thought you were excited about trying. You know, for physical therapy.”

Joe crumples up the paper. “I’m just going to do those stretches the doctor recommended. I don’t need to do a sport.”

Nick has a considering look on his face, so Joe turns away to find the nearest trash can. The only one they’ve set up so far is in the kitchen, unfortunately. “You know,” Nick says, his voice going quiet. “I don’t think Kevin would blame you if, you know, you just wanted to stop. I’ll stop too. I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t want any of us to get hurt like—”

Joe feels nauseous. “I’m not going to stop,” he says. “No. I’m… I don’t want to stop. We do good things. Even the… the piece of shit that fucked my hand up. If we didn’t do that, it would have hurt even more people. No, we just need— I just need to get better. I’ll teach myself how to shoot with my other hand.”

He’s been saying that for five months now and it still feels like he’s just making excuses. Sure, he can sort of aim with his left hand, but his right is useless for reloading and holding things and doing literally anything. Sometimes he has to drop whatever he’s holding in his left just to squeeze at the right when the pain flares up. 

It’s beyond frustrating. 

Joe drops the paper in the trash and thinks about Awsten Knight’s threatening smirk. _This is a wolf town,_ he’d said. 

He thinks about the collection of monster hunting weapons in his room, the ones he cleans and maintains religiously because he can’t do anything else.

Joe picks the crumpled piece of paper back up and smooths it out. Practice is for one hour after school every day, it says. Newcomers are always welcome. Yeah fucking right. 

In the laundry room, the washing machine starts, so Joe drops the paper again and walks away. He returns to his room, shuts the door, and looks at the carefully organized display of weapons. There’s also a battered but well loved carrying case to the side, and Joe unzips it to take out his sabre. It’s sharpened. He fought a sewer wyrm with this, two months before everything went to hell. It feels weird holding the sabre with his left hand, but he knows, with time, he can build up the comfort and strength.

He narrows his eyes and packs the sabre away. Fuck Awsten Knight. He’s going to join that shitty fencing club of his anyway. The dumb wolf can be a dick all he wants, but Joe isn’t going to let anything stop him from doing what he wants to do. 

Joe gets up, heads back to the “living room” (which is mostly just a Goodwill couch and about fifty packed or partially opened cardboard boxes), and starts tearing into the one labeled ‘Joe’s fencing junk’, complete with a crude drawing of a cartoon eggplant holding a cutlass.


	2. Chapter 2

Fencing Captain and Asshole Extreme Awsten Knight doesn’t look happy to see Joe when he walks into the practice room on Monday afternoon with his sabre— the blunted practice sabre, not the sharp one— in his sports bag. Joe meets his glare head on with one of his own. Then he sets his stuff down and starts stretching.

Surprisingly, Awsten leaves him alone. Joe can feel the werewolf’s eyes on him the entire time as Awsten instructs the club members on warmup stretches and activities. Joe lingers in the back, following the directions silently but not without a scowl on his face.

Finally, Awsten has everyone move to one side of the practice room. He goes for his bag, leaned against one wall, and takes out his jacket and a sabre. Then he turns around, fixing his gaze on Joe. His eyes are unnaturally bright.

“Jonas,” he says. “New guy. You got any experience fencing?”

As if he didn’t trade literal blows with Joe just a week and a half ago. Joe lifts his head higher. 

“Yeah,” he says. “But I have to be left-handed now.” He knows the other people in the room are staring at the visible scars. Imagining where they came from. Nobody would ever be able to guess correctly.

Awsten shrugs and puts a left handed glove on. “Let’s see what you can do. You’ve got everything you need?”

Joe nods and goes for his own bag.

Joe inwardly hopes that the werewolf sucks fencing left-handed, because as much as he wants to show Awsten that he’s not afraid of him, he doesn’t really want to be humiliated in front of the entire fencing club. He thinks he might have at least pity points working in his favor, and at this stage, he’s willing to take them.

Joe gets his gear on quickly enough. The familiarity of the actions is nice, although the nerves in his stomach are ruining the moment. He puts his mask on and looks back to Awsten. Annoyingly, he can still see the infuriating smirk past the mesh. Joe grips the handle and grinds his teeth as he takes his position.

He’s not going to back down.

Just like before, Awsten is fast. He makes a show of his fluid movements at first, seeming to allow Joe to ‘show him what he’s got’ or whatever while still commanding the entire first conversation. And the second, and the third. Joe doesn’t land a single touch, but he doesn’t allow himself to get frustrated. He moves in practiced, trained motions, because he’s not a clueless amateur. He knows what he’s doing. He just kinda sucks at it right now. The point of this isn’t to win, not now at least. It’s to prove a point.

Still, it makes his face burn when Awsten starts talking to him and the other club members, pointing out where Joe is holding himself incorrectly.

“That was wrong,” Awsten says, pointing his sabre at where Joe has stepped back with the wrong foot.

“I told you, I’m learning left-handed,” Joe grits out. 

“You’re unbalanced as hell,” Awsten says. “I could probably make you trip over your own feet right now.” 

“Why would you do that?” Joe says, summoning up as much bravado as he can muster. “I’m here to learn from you. Cause I’m joining this club. This bout is just so you can see where I’m at, right?”

Awsten goes still for a moment. The other club members on the side of the room are quiet. For a few long seconds, Joe hopes and prays that this won’t all blow up in his face. The whole club can’t all be werewolves, right? Awsten has his own facade to keep up, right? He can’t just be an asshole for no reason in front of other people.

Awsten lowers his sabre and reaches up to pull his mask off. “It’s not a bout,” he says. His eyes are still burning green and blue as he looks across the short expanse of space between them, but they don’t seem as hostile as before. “I’ve seen what I need to see. For now, you’re with Louisa. She’s a lefty, and she can show you the basic footwork. You need to relearn it. Forget everything you learned before. You’ll just confuse yourself.”

The tension eases. Awsten starts pairing up team members and directing them to different parts of the practice room. A short, dark eyed girl who looks like she’s in Nick’s year walks up to Joe with a small smile.

“I’m Louisa,” she says. 

“I’m Joe,” Joe says. He realizes he’s still in his gear and starts taking it all off. “Sorry, uh—”

“Do you and Awsten know each other from somewhere?” Louisa asks as Joe is putting his things back in his bag. “Cause that was so weird. He’s usually so nice.”

“No? Not really,” Joe says, thinking about the Incident. Awsten? Nice? Fuck that guy and his fake niceness. “Guess I’m just special.”

Louisa gives him a skeptical look. “If you call that special, I’d hate to see what you think is unfortunate.”

Joe resists the urge to cover the scars on his right hand. “Yeah,” he says. “So, uh. You’ve been fencing for a while?”

Louisa picks up a practice sabre. “Not really. I only joined this year. I talked to Awsten at the club fair and he convinced me to try. It’s kinda cool. Like… I don’t know, I feel sorta like a medieval knight. Or lady, whatever girl knights would have been called.”

“Uh huh,” Joe says. He watches Louisa move through a series of forms and carefully mimics her. It feels more natural than what he was doing earlier. He’ll have to practice it a ton, but he can already visualize how some of the positions can be applied practically. He won’t be fighting another wyrm anytime soon, but he can see himself being useful again.

Eventually.

“How long have you been fencing?” Louisa asks. “You seem like you know what you’re doing. And you have your own sabre and everything. That’s cool.”

“A while,” Joe says vaguely. “My family is into uh... self defence stuff.”

He glances across the room just in time to see Awsten frowning at him. Joe returns his attention to Louisa and the next form she’s showing him.


	3. Chapter 3

When Joe goes to sit down for lunch with Nick the next day, he freezes in his steps. Awsten Knight is sitting at the table. Or… a copy of Awsten Knight with natural brown hair that falls into his eyes and an old looking black band hoodie. He's showing Nick something on his phone with a little smile. Nick laughs at it and inches closer to the Awsten-looking kid. As if he’s enjoying his company.

Joe sits down at the table and puts his lunch tray down so hard the juice bottle falls over. Nick and Awsten(?) both jump and separate.

"Who's this?" Joe says, looking at Emo Awsten. The kid has the decency to look nervous under Joe's gaze.

"Kyle," Nick says. "He's in my English class and he's been helping me study and get caught up on everything. Kyle, this is my brother Joe."

"Nice to meet—"

"Are you related to anyone named Awsten?" Joe asks, interrupting Kyle.

Kyle's nervous smile fades. "Yeah, he's my twin. Why?"

Joe breathes out. Twins. Okay. Shit. 

"So you're a werewolf too," Joe says. He keeps his voice low— he's not an idiot— but he says it with enough serious intention to make his point clear. Kyle is dangerous. 

Kyle's eyes go wide and Nick glares at him. Joe glares back. 

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it,” Nick says. “And he’s not just a, you know, he’s my classmate.”

Kyle bites at his lip. “If you want me to leave, I can leave.”

“No,” Nick says stubbornly. “Joe’s just being a dick. Kyle, I asked you to sit with me, and I want you to stay. If Joe’s making you uncomfortable, then we’ll just vote him off the island.”

Oh, so now Joe is the asshole. He opens his mouth to fight, but Nick is already taking out a giant English textbook. He opens it up to a page already stuffed with notes and papers and starts loudly talking to Kyle.

“So the symbolism is easy, but I didn’t understand what it meant when it started asking about the postcolonial criticism theory. Like, which perspective do they want me to talk about? The oppressor or the oppressed? What do you think?”

Joe carefully examines Kyle. Awsten’s twin. Awsten’s twin, who is already good enough friends with Nick that they’re sitting together and sharing videos on their phones. Joe considers that as he starts trying to open his bottle of juice. He’s been getting better at unscrewing the lid with his left hand.

“Um,” Kyle says. “Joe? I guess… I guess Awsten did something— I’m sorry. Whatever it was. He’s uh.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Nick says, but Kyle shakes his head.

“I want to. I guess… he’s protective,” Kyle mutters, his voice quiet in the midst of the noisy lunchroom. “It’s because of his position in the town pack, he’s basically training to be a leader. And he’s not good about how he acts on his instincts. Every time a new supernatural person moves in, he jumps on them and threatens them and… I know Nick’s a seer— he told me— and I promise you, whatever Awsten told you, it’s not as bad as he makes it seem. You guys are fine. You’re welcome to be here.”

Joe looks at Nick. “You told him you’re a seer?”

And he didn’t tell him that they’re hunters? Or at least semi-retired hunters. Hunters on hiatus.

Nick nods. Then he gives Joe a very subtle shake of his head. Joe doesn’t like it. 

Kyle offers Joe a small smile. “I can talk to Awsten. Don’t worry. I—”

“We’re hunters.” Joe says.

Nick punches the table. “JOE!” he yells. Meanwhile, Kyle’s face goes pale, he looks from Joe to Nick and then back to Joe, and then he gets up very quickly and runs out of the lunchroom. Nick sends a dirty look at Joe.

“You fucking asshole,” he spits, picking up his textbook and shoving it back into his backpack. “Why did you— you know what, I don’t have time for this.” He gets up from the table too and runs after Kyle. Joe sighs and looks at the two, soon to be three, abandoned lunches on the table.

It’s for the best, he figures. Awsten has already made it clear how dangerous he is. If Kyle is his twin, even if they seemingly don’t talk a lot, Awsten will most likely be pissed when he finds out a hunter is making friends with him. And the secret was technically already out. Kyle would have found out sooner or later, and he’d be mad about Nick keeping the secret from him. Joe did the right thing.

He still feels like shit. He gets up to follow after Nick and Kyle, with both hope and dismay swirling through his insides.


	4. Chapter 4

“We’re not doing that anymore, I swear,” Nick is saying to Kyle in a whisper when Joe catches up to them. They’re in a dusty corner of the art hallway, surrounded by charcoal still lifes and partly hidden by a plastic display case full of pottery. Joe hangs back, although he knows they can both see him.

“You lied to me,” Kyle says. “I was— I just wanted— did you know the whole time? Were you lying about being a seer?”

Nick shakes his head. “I wasn’t lying. I am a seer. I… I was pretty sure you were something, but… Kyle, please believe me. We’re not here to do anything. Some bad shit happened a couple months ago, and we’re not— we just want to be normal again.”

Kyle is hunched in on himself. He doesn’t look anything like a predatory monster. He just looks like a normal emo teenager. Joe swallows and moves a little closer.

“I’m guessing Awsten knows about you,” Kyle says. “He didn’t really say anything to me. Not that he ever does.”

“Awsten knows I’m a hunter,” Joe clarifies. “Or at least I was.” He hesitates, and then moves just a bit closer. He reaches for his sleeve and pulls it up, showing off all the awful marks and scars. Kyle’s eyes go wide. “After this happened, our older brother panicked and moved us here, so we can be safe.”

Kyle’s lips twitch. “He didn’t do his research very well. There’s a lot of wolves in town, and a lot of other things too. But…” he pulls his arms tightly across his chest. “I get it. I’m, uh. I’m sorry about Awsten. I guess I get it, why you didn’t tell me. You want a fresh start.”

“Kyle,” Nick starts.

“Just—” Kyle says. “You swear you’re not here to hurt anyone? Cause I really— I don’t feel any danger from you. I can sense that kind of stuff really well, and I never felt anything like that these past two weeks. Nick… I want to trust you, but—”

“I swear,” Nick says. “We’re not here to hurt you, or your pack, or anyone. Please believe me.”

Kyle glances at Joe. Joe manages a small smile. This is important to Nick. He can back off, for his little brother’s sake. Nick has a point, really. They can spend a year or two being normal teenagers. 

After they graduate, Joe is going back to hunting though. He’s already promised himself that he won’t let his injury stop him from hunting down all the dangerous things out there. 

“I promise,” Joe says. “I’m sorry, I was just worried for Nick. And, you know. You should know that we used to do that, so you can understand. But not anymore.”

Kyle nods, still a little shaky. “Okay. Yeah. Um. I still want some time to think about all this, but… I’ll text you, okay Nick?”

Nick looks so relieved that it makes Joe’s stomach twist. “Awesome,” Nick says, sounding like he’s on the moon. “Great. I’m so sorry about everything. I promise, no more secrets. I’ll tell you anything you want to know. You’re a good friend, and I don’t want you to feel scared of me.”

Joe doesn’t want to hear any more of this. He leaves the hallway and checks the clock. Lunch is almost over… he’s got some snacks in his backpack that will hopefully hold him until school is over for the day. Maybe he and Nick can go out somewhere after school. He knows he’ll be super hungry.

He also knows he’ll be having a very serious talk with Nick when they get home, about what Nick can actually tell his new werewolf friend (that is just too weird to think about, jeez), and whether or not they should let Kevin know what’s going on.

Joe stops walking for a moment.

Kevin. 

He’s been really busy since they moved to town. Kevin has communicated more through text and short calls than he has in person this entire time. Joe knows that Kevin’s been busy taking care of legal stuff and working at his new job, but it would still be nice to have his older brother at the house so they could actually talk. He hasn’t even told Kevin about his Fencing Captain Awsten Knight problem. It’s just been too hectic.

But if Joe can handle Awsten on his own, he supposes that he and Nick can figure out how to handle Kyle on their own. It’s probably best not to worry Kevin about supernatural things right now anyway. Kevin’s always preferred to deal with problems quickly and with as much lethal force as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

Kyle sits on his bed, hugging a pillow to his chest. He considers shifting to his wolf form, but a larger body just means more of him to feel miserable. 

He’s a fucking idiot. A hunter. Nick’s a hunter. How did he not notice? He felt a little nervous around Nick, but he had assumed that was just because he was really good-looking. Nick hadn’t been making any friends, and he was struggling, and he was cute. Kyle just wanted to be nice.

He can only imagine what Awsten would say about all this. He buries his face in the pillow and groans. 

No, he’s not going to tell Awsten. He can handle his own life. Getting Awsten involved is the worst way to solve this, actually. Awsten _‘you’re too nice and you’re just going to get killed going out in the world, so you should start looking at future prospects in town.’_ Fuck Awsten. This is Kyle’s life. 

Okay. He can do this. He just has to stop crying and try to think. 

He sort of believes that Nick and Joe aren’t here to hurt anyone. He knows he should never trust a hunter’s word, but Nick is just… he’s been so nice and friendly. He was so sweet when Kyle approached him to help him study. And they said they’re only here to live quietly. Joe’s injury looked so bad.

Kyle frowns. He’s not sure about Joe. He definitely trusts Nick more than Joe, mostly because of the time they’ve spent together. Joe sort of seems… harmless. But he also mentioned Awsten. That means Awsten has run into Joe and he’s been a dick. 

But Awsten didn’t mention hunters to Kyle. So… so he probably doesn’t know. That’s good. Okay. Kyle should probably still avoid being around Joe whenever Awsten is around but… well, it’s not exactly hard to avoid Awsten. 

He’s starting to feel better about this. He can still hang out with Nick. He doesn’t think anything is going to go wrong. If anything does, then he’s a werewolf and he can hold his own, no matter what Awsten thinks. 

Kyle rubs at his eyes and swallows back the feeling in his throat. He picks up his phone and texts Nick. 

_Can we meet at our usual place? You can bring Joe if he wants to come_

Nick texts back a minute later, agreeing to both requests. 

Kyle gets up off the bed and does a quick partial shift, so he can listen to make sure nobody’s coming home. Gracie isn’t home yet, and Steve hasn’t been around for a few days. From what Kyle can hear, he’s not coming home today either. Awsten should be with the fencing club, and he usually spends the rest of the afternoon doing whatever pack business he does with the elders. Kyle wouldn’t know, since he’s never been invited to come along. Not important. The important thing here is, he’s clear to get out of the house and stay out for a while.

He has a feeling that his talk with Nick and Joe will take a little longer than his and Nick’s usual study sessions.

He shifts back, wraps his favorite scarf around his neck, and leaves the house at a comfortable jog. He tries not to think too much before he gets to the library. He really doesn’t want to have second thoughts about all this.

When he gets to the library and settles in his usual reading room in the corner, he busies himself with laying out all his books and assignments and pretending like he’s actually going to do them. But when he reads one sentence of his English textbook, he shakes his head and closes it. Maybe not. 

So instead, Kyle digs out a handful of quarters from his backpack and buys whatever snacks he’s seen Nick enjoy in the whole time he’s known him.

And then he goes back to the reading room and waits.

Thankfully, the library is closer to Nick’s place than Kyle’s, so they arrive soon after he spreads the snacks everywhere. Kyle sits up, trying not to look so happy to see Nick. He’s a little nervous, but he’s sure this will be fine. Nick’s nice. Nick wouldn’t hurt him, he believes that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im gonna add a thing in between this chapter and the last one in a bit

There’s just never any time anymore. Stay at the top of all your classes, Awsten. Prepare adequately for senior pack member meetings, and remember you’re working to prove yourself, Awsten. Half of the elders still aren’t convinced, so you have to convince them, Awsten. You’re striving for excellence, Awsten. The leadership position isn’t a guarantee, Awsten, you have to earn it and continue earning it.

It’s exhausting but Awsten doesn’t have time to stop. He can’t slow down. He can’t do any less than what he’s doing. Fuck Kyle, he doesn’t understand that Awsten needs this. At this point, it’s literally the only thing he can do. It’s still his dream to lead the pack, even if thinking about all the work that goes into it makes him sick sometimes.

Apart from sleep, he gets one hour a day. Sure, he has a lot of responsibilities and duties to keep up with as the captain of the fencing team, but it’s fun. He’s good at it. Fencing is the one that doesn’t make him feel like tearing something into pieces from all the pressure.

Except now… there’s Joe Jonas.

Awsten isn’t sure what the hunter is up to. He seems harmless with that mysterious injury and the way he backed off when Awsten threatened him. But he keeps coming back. He shows up, stretches, listens to Awsten’s instructions, helps out the other members of the club at times. He hasn’t tried to stab anyone in the back. Yet. 

Awsten didn’t mention the hunter brothers to the pack, and it’s a little late to do it now. He knows it’s a bad decision, but he sees it more as playing a gamble. If the hunters are up to something, they won’t reveal it right away. Awsten can watch them— watch Joe— for when he inevitably slips up. If he chases them out now, then he misses out on whatever information he could possibly get from them. 

And of course, if the Jonas family actually is just living, then Awsten can maybe leave them alone.

Yeah right.

Regardless, he needs to keep an eye on Joe, which is… a strange distraction to say the least. Since Joe’s return to the club, he’s been so weirdly pleasant. He sometimes eyes Awsten as if he’s expecting a fight, and it makes Awsten wary. But most of the time, he just acts like another kid who’s interested in fencing.

Awsten is doing a demonstration with Júlio, a junior-year coyote shapeshifter kid. Júlio is good, but he moves slowly, like he doesn’t expect to do anything with the sabre except dance with it. Oh if only life was that peaceful. 

The members of the club are all sitting on the floor, watching Awsten and Júlio’s forms with rapt attention. Awsten is aware of everyone, but Joe’s gaze weighs on him more heavily for some reason. He keeps sneaking his own eyes to the side to see Joe watching him, which makes him quickly look away and try to focus again. It’s been happening consistently, probably every twenty seconds, for the past three minutes. Awsten should find it annoying but… he doesn’t.

Thankfully the demonstration is over a few moments after the latest weird moment with Joe. Awsten tries to push all thoughts of Joe out of his mind. He fails.

“Okay, that was good,” Awsten says. “It’s slower than it should be, but like I said earlier, Júlio is applying dance techniques into it. Fencing doesn’t just have to be about fighting someone with a sabre, it’s also about balance and core strength and making quick decisions. You can use those skills in anything you do. Does anyone have any questions?”

A few of the newer members raise their hands and ask about a variety of things: Júlio’s plans for majoring in dance, Awsten’s balance skills, other applications. Awsten does his best to give good answers to everyone. This is his passion, after all. Joe is sitting in the back, so as long as Awsten doesn’t look straight at him, he can forget about the weird eye contact thing.

But then Penny, one of the new freshmen girls, asks something. “So, what about like, physical therapy and recovery sports? I know horseback riding is good for people with back and leg injuries. And some martial arts too. Since fencing could be slower and low impact, would it be good for that kind of thing?”

Awsten looks straight at Joe before he even knows what he’s doing. Joe is looking down, pulling his shirt sleeve over the scars on his hand. 

“Uh,” Awsten says. “I wouldn’t recommend it as a first option.” Joe has a frown on his face and it doesn’t feel right, seeing that. He’s so positive and determined all the time. Awsten clears his throat. “But it can work. I guess, if a person has enough drive, they can take on anything. So… yeah, actually.” Joe looks up and they make eye contact again. 

Awsten should look away, but he doesn’t. He tries to put on a friendlier face. It’s okay that Joe is here. 

“Yeah. Yeah, Penny. Uh. You interested in that thing? Exercise therapy?”

“Oh… maybe,” Penny says. “I’m thinking about it. I’ve got time to decide, but it’s interesting.”

The questions die down shortly after that, and they’re left with about twenty minutes of time to practice, plus the ten minutes of cooldown afterwards. Awsten sets everyone up in partners, leaving Joe for last.

“Thanks,” Joe says quietly. 

Awsten rolls his eyes. “You already basically said all that to me when you came back. Don’t make it any bigger than that.” He holds his sabre in his left hand and faces Joe. “Ready? Show me your footwork. I know you’ve gotten better since that first embarrassing time.”


End file.
